6 months ago
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The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the transgression misappropriation of the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple’s gold-plated spiritual artefacts has questioned Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State Committee subordinate and erstwhile Devaswom Board Minister, Kadakampally Surendran.
Officials said the SIT recorded Mr. Surendran’s connection astatine a Kerala Police Crime Branch “safe house” successful Thiruvananthapuram connected an unspecified day past week. They said the SIT had besides questioned erstwhile Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president P Prasanth.
Mr. Surendran was the Devaswom Minister erstwhile the transgression unfolded successful 2019. Officials said the SIT reportedly sought to find whether Mr. Surendran, arsenic Minister, had immoderate nonstop oregon indirect relation successful allowing the premier suspect, Unnikrishnan Potti, to instrumentality possession of the gilded coverings encasing the temple’s chromatic sculptures and carvings nether the pretext of restoring them to their archetypal aureate sheen done a chemic process astatine Smart Creations, a golden plating mill astatine Ambattur successful Chennai.
According to officials, Mr. Surendran reportedly told the SIT that the government’s relation successful TDB medication was constricted to argumentation and sweeping administrative oversight, chiefly done the Revenue department’s Devaswom wing.
According to sources, Mr. Surendran reportedly underscored that the TDB was an autonomous assemblage with statutory powers and, arsenic such, its mundane administrative functions were, by default, autarkic of the government. Hence, the authorities had nary relation successful TDB’s determination to declaration Mr. Potti to refurbish the gilded panels donated to the temple by industrialist Vijay Mallya successful 1998.
Officials said the SIT questioned Mr. Prasanth astir the TDB’s determination to entrust the gilded panels to Mr. Potti again successful 2025, successful usurpation of the temple manual and contempt reddish flags raised by the Board’s vigilance wing.
They said Mr. Prasanth stated that Smart Creations had, successful 2019, fixed a ten-year warranty for the “restored” gold-plated coverings.
He reportedly told the SIT that Smart Creations had, successful hindsight, “suspiciously” named Mr. Potti arsenic the warrantee, thereby constraining the TDB to question his services for a 2nd clip successful six years.
Mr. Prasanth said that, dissimilar successful 2019, the TDB sent the artefacts to Smart Creations successful a unafraid authorities conveyance escorted by mobile equipped constabulary units. He reportedly conceded that the TDB had failed to question the High Court’s anterior support to determination the objects from the temple to Chennai for repair and subsequently submitted an apology.
